


Moments in Seven Days

by chquine



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 19:13:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15274392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chquine/pseuds/chquine
Summary: For ChibaHaya week 2018.





	1. Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> The writer does not profit from this literary work. Everything recognizable belongs to its respective owners. The views and opinions shared through this literary work do not necessarily reflect that of the writer.
> 
> Have fun and enjoy reading! :)

Day 1: Birthday

  
"Hey."

  
Chiba looked up from where he sat, nodding to acknowledge Hayami who handed him the sweet-smelling box she had. She sat on her heels beside him, hands casually resting on her lap; bright hair tied back with a barette that reminded him of Kataoka.

  
Wordlessly, he opened the box that she brought and she did the same for the box of macarons that he had with him. It was quiet, save for the crickets and the rustling of leaves. The bustling sounds of the city were far off and muffled and it was here that the pair felt most at home.

  
"We should have brought a lamp," Chiba mentioned, setting down the strawberry shortcake on the checkered red and white blanket they sat on.

  
Hayami nodded but said, "We'd be seen easily."

  
"I doubt our classmates would care."

  
She paused from removing the plastic lid of the macarons and stared at Chiba who took out some disposable forks, a candle and a lighter. He was right, of course. No one from Class E would care if they saw the two of them sitting there, on a threadbare blanket like they were having a picnic, albeit under the chipped moon. It would cause them to have ideas (Nakamura especially), but the two of them were not particularly concerned.

  
"Innacurate," Hayami said, placing the macarons beside the shortcake. "They would care. It's us who don't care."

  
Chiba lit up the single candle on the cake, illuminating their faces with a soft tone of orange. Neither of them particularly favored sweets, but just for today, they would indulge. They stared at each other for a while, willing the other to take the hint and start singing. Even though this picnic of theirs occured annually, the singing part was often awkward for both of them.

  
The candle's flame flickered when Hayami sighed and Chiba was quick to cup his hands around it. She started humming, voice soothing despite its chill. He pulled away and waited for her to finish the song; both of then staring at the card surrounded by decadent strawberries and sweet frosting.

  
"Happy birthday, Koro-sensei."


	2. Fear

Day 2: Fear

  
Neither Chiba nor Hayami was expressive. Even as junior high students in Kunugigaoka's Class E, they were all-business; no-nonsense individuals, preferring to let their actions do the talking. This did not imply that they were apathetic. When confronted by a cute cat, Hayami all but shed her cool countenance and donned a school girl's giddy smiles. When beaten by an Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery in shōgi three games in, Chiba frowned and hung his head in exasperation and shame.

  
When the assassination depended on that single shot the two of then dealt, the two gave in to pressure, trigger fingers shaking and shoulders seizing. The lack of confidence that followed was silent and heavy, but ultimately short-lived. Yanagizawa's assault on the teacher that they looked up to incited fear, both for themselves and Koro-sensei. Tears were shed when the knife went through their teacher's necktie.

  
Hiding your emotions did not mean apathy; it meant you recognized what you felt and determined that it was best hidden, locked inside a small corner of your mind because there was something else that needed to be accomplished. Chiba and Hayami excelled in this.

  
Chiba stared at Hayami who sat across him, legs crossed, brows furrowed and absorbed in her book. He was having troubles in getting employed and Hayami declared herself to be his second blade. It made him guilty, to depend on her like this, but at the same time, he admired her determination. She had always been amazing, even when they were younger and delegated to the bottom of Kunugigaoka's social laddder and he liked that about her.

  
He studied her and then: "I'm... Frightened."

  
Frightened because Hayami was making him feel so much emotions at once even though she just sat there and read. Frightened because he had mastery over hiding his emotions yet choose to forget that when she was around. Frightened because this was Hayami Rinka.

  
Her green eyes fell on him, inscrutable yet turbulent. For a moment, Chiba wondered if she felt the same because that was usually the case.

  
Her hand found his on the coffee table. "I am too."


	3. Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So late. :( I couldn't get internet for the next few days of ChibaHaya week, so I'll be posting the rest in one go.
> 
> This chapter drew inspiration from that tidbit in Graduation Time (?) I saw in Tumblr.

Day 3: Eyes

  
She was not dense; nor was she oblivious. Her silence made her more susceptible to sudden changes around her. Hayami often wondered if she was just paranoid or looking too much into things, but she had to admit that it came in handy when she was sniping.

  
Generally speaking, Chiba was a better sniper, which was ludicrous since he refused to trim the fringe that went well past his eyes. Her edge over him was that she was capable of maneuvering herself into impossible positions to stay hidden and Hayami was often able to tell when she had been spotted. It was some sort of sixth sense; Bitch-sensei insisted it was a woman's intuition.

  
Chiba was staring at her intently today. It was nothing new; he often stared at her inently, even back when they were in Kunugigaoka. He used her 'woman's intuition' as a reference for staying in their hiding spot or looking for a better one. While it made her feel like she was on the other side of his scope, waiting to be shot down, Hayami did not mind.

  
He had a complex about his eyes and he nearly never let anyone see them completely. Hayami had the privilege of seeing them a handful of times. If she knew he stared at her intently with his inherently intense eyes, she would have quailed, like a stationary target on the other side of his sniper rifle.

  
When his staring took a little more than it usually did, Hayami raised her eyes to meet his and asked, "What's wrong?" The question spoke volumes; they were alike in a way that simply inquiring what was wrong almost never happened. For her to ask meant that he was keeping something from her and they never kept secrets, or more accurately, were unable to keep secrets from the other.

  
His shoulders tensed and later on, he sighed, long and deep in its context. Picking on the ends of his fringe, Chiba replied, "My hair keeps me from getting a job." They both knew that his fringe was bound to cause problems in the long run, but none wanted to state the obvious.

  
Hayami had to agree that changing his hairstyle would do little to increase his chances of getting a job. If anything, it would hurt said chances. On her own, she had been working part time at a convenience store, overcoming her social awkwardness little by little. Chiba was unable to do even that.

  
With an amount of determination that surprised even her, Hayami declared: "Sharpen your blade. I'll be your spare."


	4. Date

Day 4: Date

 

"Ah, I'm out of tea leaves."

  
Chiba started at the monotonous exclamation as they went down the biscuits aisle. He made a mental note of that as he grabbed a pack of digestive biscuits from the rack and placed it into the cart. His sisters liked randomly visiting him so he took some other snacks from that aisle too.

  
It was their anniversary, but like most occasions, it was set aside on favor of studying for their college exams. Both knew how crucial the next few days will be, so neither planned on doing anything for their anniversary. It just so happened that Hayami's cram school was nearby and Chiba was lacking in groceries.

  
Yada and Kurahashi bemoaned the lack of romance between them; even more so if they found out that the two now spent their anniversary date grocery shopping.

  
"What was that chocolate you got me before?" Chiba suddenly asked as they passed by the aisle of powdered chocolate drinks. Without missing a beat, Hayami pointed to a certain brand while grabbing a different packet for herself. She stared at the contents of the shopping cart for a moment.

  
"You should stop eating instant ramen," she said.

  
"This is only till next week."

  
"Your exams are the week after?"

  
"Yeah. Yours are next month right?"

  
Hayami nodded, plucking out a handful of instant ramen, telling him to go ahead and rushing out of the aisle. Chiba sighed, but watched until he could no longer see her. Moving to the next aisle, he kept an eye out for tea leaves. Hayami was not as brand-loyal as he was, but stuck to her preferences in terms of flavor and aroma. The past few years, she had given him three different brands of chocolate for Valentine's, but they were all mint-laced ones.

  
Completing the three more items of his grocery list, Chiba strolled to the cashier, mentally making a tally of how much he had spent. He heard the rustling of plastic and saw that she had placed a pack of bread, a small box of cheese and a can of pork and beans. She picked up the box of tea leaves and nodded in approval.

  
When they had paid and were leaving the grocery store, Chiba asked, "Are you going back to cram school?"

  
Hayami glanced at her wristwatch and a barely perceptible twitch of her lips indicated her irritation. "Yeah. Otherwise I'll be late."

  
He fished out her box of tea leaves and she stowed it inside her bag then he leaned down to kiss her briefly on the cheek, causing both of them to blush profusely before they mumbled their goodbyes.

  
"Happy anniversary, Ryūnosuke."

  
"Happy anniversary, Rinka."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My parents treat grocery shopping as dates so I kinda got inspiration from that. XD


	5. Partners

Day 5: Partners

  
A sniper always worked with a spotter; that way he could be more efficient in shooting. Back in their days at 3-E, the sniper duo both used their marksmanship separately. Their target was a Mach 20 creature so he would be nigh impossible to spot, let alone shoot.

  
"Three o'clock," Hayami muttered, looking through her binoculars. "There's three of them."

  
"Yeah." He pulled the trigger of his airsoft three times, eliminating all of his spotter's mentioned targets. "I saw some stragglers coming this way."

  
She put her binoculars down and grabbed her pistol. Another one was holstered on her thigh even though she usually only used one to shoot nowadays.

  
"Will you be fine without me?" She asked, standing up and heading for the stairs. They were situated at the highest floor of an empty building at the edge of the playing field. It was the most obvious spot for them, but between the two of them, shooting down anything that doesn't come close to Mach 20 was easy as breathing.

  
"Yeah. They don't seem to be drawn here."

  
"I'll be back in five."

  
"Be careful." He peered back into his scope and picked off a random player that wandered into the building's vicinity.

"And Ryūnosuke?"

  
"Hm?"

 

"Leave some for me."

  
Chiba chuckled, lips tilting in amusement. "I'll try."


	6. Dance

Day 6: Dance

  
No matter how much she had practiced, dance performances always made Hayami uneasy. It was quite unlike the pressure of having to absolutely hit her target, but it was still there.

  
She sighed, staring at her reflection in the mirror backstage. Determined to get over her social awkwardness, Hayami enrolled in jazz dance lessons. Her schedule was now unbearably filled, but the studio was close to the high school Chiba went to so they could meet up three times a week. Her dress was form-fitting and shiny; the kind of dress that Bitch-sensei would wear, with its neckline and the thigh-high slit. Her hair was curled by her mother and placed delicately over her shoulder; a hairpin wrought in the shape of a rose and embelished with maroon gems came from her father and was right behind the shell of her ear.

  
Hayami knew she was prepared; her weapons were in optimal shape, she had mentally run the scenarios over and over - making sure she did not overlook anything and, as per Koro-sensei's instruction and her second blade was at the ready.

  
When she was called to perform on stage along with three other students like her, she glanced at herself in the mirror once more.

  
"This too, is an assassination."

  
The stage lights were blindingly bright and the auditorium was enormous, filled with critics, her instructors and countless spectators. She was introduced along with the other two, but her eyes were scanning the crowd for her second blade.

  
A second blade was a spare, a back-up plan; something to count on when all the preparation ended. She wondered if she could even call Chiba, who sat two rows behind the front, a second blade when he actually made her even nervous.

  
He was clapping along with the rest of the audience and Hayami felt her lips twitch to a smile.

  
"This too, is an assassination."


	7. Alternate Universe (AU)

Day 7: AU

  
An apprentice, for all intents and purposes, was to broaden the playing field and eventually pass on teachings. The Reaper took twenty eight apprentices, ranging from an AI to social rejects like the remaining twenty seven. Their goal was to kill him who had been dubbed as the greatest assassin to have ever lived. One would think that twenty eight apprentices would catch the eye of other professionals in the field, exposing the Reaper's identity and his activities. But all it did was turn the apprentices into targets.

  
Hayami placed her revolver in its holster, sighing as she did. She surveyed the area; the others have evacuated as planned. Exfill was on the way with their primary target dealt with.

  
A bullet whizzed through the air and pierced the flesh of her upper arm. The force made her lurch forward and kneel on one knee. Studying her arm, Hayami saw that the bullet was not any kind of special round and had probably been fired from a ten millimeter. There was rubble off to her right and she dashed to it just as another bullet flew at the space she was at earlier. Apparently, they had not cleaned up all the lackeys.

  
Her left arm was immobile, but she could still shoot with her right. She was about to move when the crack of a familiar sniper rifle reached her ears, followed by the telltale sound of a high speed bullet going through bones and flesh and the thudding of a heavy body onto the ground.

  
"Are you alright, Hayami?"

  
Chiba's voice came off as warbled through her earpiece, but it comforted her either way.

  
"Yes. Nice shot."

  
"I'm heading there now. The others have been picked up."

  
She only hummed in response, ignoring the sweat that beaded her brow from the pain of the bullet wound. Being the Reaper's apprentice meant grueling training, but not once had she been shot before. He usually held back when sparring against them or teaching them how to effectively blow a target's brains out. Complaints were few and far between especially since they became a whole lot more under the assassin's tutelage.

  
She saw a shadow from the corner of her eye and with a deft hand, Hayami drew out her revolver and aimed it at the figure. A similar gun was trained at her and holding it was Chiba, her fellow marksman.

  
"I see you're still alert," he remarked, stowing his revolver away and gently placing his sniper rifle case down. She only nodded at him and followed his example.

  
"Is it bad?" Hayami asked, referring to her gunshot wound.

  
"Nothing Takebayashi-kun can't fix," he replied. "Do you want me to take it out?"

  
"A painkiller will work."

  
He fished a tablet from his pocket, the latest creation of their resident chemist, Okuda Manami. It was fast-acting but had the side-effect of drowsiness. It supposedly helped with healing too by all but forcing its consumer to rest. Chiba handed it to Hayami who swallowed it dry, wincing as she did.

  
"How long till exfill?" She asked hoarsely, the painkiller pill stuck in her throat uncomfortably. It dissovled at a snail's pace and the gunshot wound still throbbed, but she was fine with those.

  
Chiba sat down beside her and leaned against the wall of rubble, relaxed but alert. They were still in enemy territory and there could be more stragglers like the one who shot Hayami. "About ten minutes. Sensei's personally coming to survey the area."

  
"Sensei is?"

  
"Yeah. Apparently he had some history with the target."

  
She rested her head on his shoulder. It was dark outside, with nothing but the moon above illuminating the ruins of what used to be their target's hideout. The wind was frigid and their breaths started to come out in white puffs. It was only still autumn, but the chill rivaled that of winter.

  
"So you think it has something to do with Yukimura Aguri?"

  
Chiba briefly glanced at her. When the Reaper took all twenty eight of them in, he was candid about why he chose to stay as an assassin; the reason was a woman, Yukimura Aguri. He had been hired to kill her by a scientist whose patent she stole; surveillance was done through a florist persona the Reaper effortlessly melded into. It did not take long for him to learn that he had been hired under false pretenses and that the only reason the scientist wanted her killed was because she rejected his romantic advances.

  
"In the world where you breathed blood mist, a target dies. That's all there is to it," Chiba quoted the Reaper. He had exerted any and all effort to keep her safe, because if his employer found out that she was still alive then more assassins would be sent to end her life, each less merciless than the last. When the Reaper returned from a job, he found out that Yukimura Aguri had been murdered in her own house. He had only been gone for twenty four hours.

  
"Sensei never comes to kill sites," Hayami mentioned, finding it easier to talk now that the pill was dissolved. "So it must be personal."

  
He hummed in agreement, feeling her breaths slow and become more relaxed. From their sitting position, he could only see the top of her head. Chiba could not claim that he had any form of empathy, not with the way he had been discarded like the rest of them, but as he watched Okuda's painkiller take effect on Hayami, he felt that, even if it's just a little, he understood why the Reaper stayed where he was now.

  
Solitude was practical in their profession; having any ties with anyone would have jeopardized your emotions and feelings. The Reaper saw differently.

  
"It's people you cherish that make you strong."

  
He brushed aside a stray lock of hair from Hayami's forehead and listened to both her breaths and the smallest noise. Exfill would arrive in seven minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed my contribution for ChibaHaya week! Even though it's late and all. I also hope the AU wasn't too confusing.
> 
> Thank you for reading! :)


End file.
